In central Virginia, Wal-Mart received approval to build a new Supercenter within a cannonball’s shot of the Wilderness, a major Civil War battlefield. The proposed development met with opposition by historic preservationists and historians from Texas to Vermont. County supervisors voted 4–1 in favor of the new store, citing the hundreds of jobs and cheap shopping it would bring to area residents as well as an estimated $800,000 in tax revenue.
Civil War buffs expressed concerns that commercial development so close to the battlefield dishonors the memory of those who fought there. Others worried about the increased traffic the store would bring to the area. Since four Wal-Marts already existed within a 20-mile radius of the new site, they pushed for an alternative site out of view of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought on May 5–6, 1864, marked the first time that Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee faced off. Nearly 150,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were engaged. One national park ranger describes the Union victory “a turning point . . . the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.”
A Wal-Mart spokesperson noted that the site had long been zoned for commercial use and that fast-food restaurants, strip malls, and subdivisions had already been allowed nearby. He argued that the “thick, thick woods” would make the store all but invisible from the protected battlefield acreage: “It’s called the Wilderness battlefield site for a reason.”
Related Links
- Civil War Buffs Clash over Proposed Wal-Mart
This story from NPR describes the clash between historic preservationists and historians on one side and a local central Virginia community and Wal-Mart on the other.
(Source: National Public Radio, August 24, 2009) - Walmart near Civil War’s Wilderness Battlefield Wins Final Approval in Central Virginia
This regional newspaper account discusses the outcome of the battle over the battlefield.
(Source: The (Allentown, PA) Morning Call, August 25, 2009) - Battle of the Wilderness
This National Park Service Web site contains descriptions of campaign strategies, maps of battlefield troop positions, photos, primary sources, and a virtual tour of the historic battlefield.
(Source: nps.gov, accessed August 30, 2009) - Officials Approve Wal-Mart near Va. Battlefield
This ABC News article reflects how the local story drew national attention.
(Source: abcnews.go.com, August 25, 2009)
4. What do the best classrooms in the world look like? Any of the ones you find in the United States of America. Yesterday and today. Not the rooctibally uncreative ones that Slate links to.But if all one wants is to demonize the US, this is an article that will do just that. Flawed studies designed to put the US lower, and all that.